Anthony
Maria Gianelli was born in 1789 into a middle-class family living near
Genoa in the north of Italy. As a child, people were often struck by his
gentle nature, industriousness, and extraordinary intelligence. When he
came of age, the lady who owned the farm his family lived on became his
generous benefactress and financed his schooling and entry into the
ecclesiastical seminary in Genoa.He quickly distinguished himself by his virtue and exceptional eloquence, thus earning him the unusual privilege of being allowed to preach while still a subdeacon. In 1812, when he was twenty-three years old, he was granted special dispensation to be ordained a priest two years before the required canonical age.
Although Fr. Anthony was dedicated to his educational work, he also devoted himself to the work of preaching and hosting missions which resulted in a great harvest of souls. All this was in addition to all his ordinary duties and functions as a parish priest – indeed, he was often confined to his confessional for long stretches of time in order to accommodate the endless stream of penitents who flocked to him for spiritual aid. He was ordained a bishop in 1838 and appointed to the diocese of Bibbio, where he led his flock by his extraordinary example of virtue, prudence and firm government.
Before his death from a fever in 1846, at the age of fifty-seven, Bishop Gianelli founded three religious orders - two for men and one for women. The Missionaries of St. Alphonsus and the Oblates of St. Alphonsus were established in 1827-1828; but sadly, both lasted only twenty years. The Sisters of Our Lady of the Garden were founded in 1829 and dedicated their lives to teaching poor children and caring for the ill and infirm. They are still active and well known today in Italy and in other parts of the world as well.
Anthony Gianelli was canonized in 1951 by Pope Pius XII.
Whilst
the triune nature of God was known in the Old Testament, the clarity
with which the mystery of the Holy Trinity is revealed in the New
Testament is truly remarkable.
Throughout
the history of the Church, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity has been
challenged by multiple heresies. Thus, as early as 259 AD, Pope Saint
Dionysius was already defending the Trinitarian doctrine against the
heretical errors of Sabellius who held that God had three “faces” or
“masks” rather than being three distinct persons within the Godhead.
This
doctrine teaches that not only is God present everywhere in a general
way, but with those who keep His commandments, and live in His grace, He
establishes an intimate relationship.
Norbert
was born in the year 1080 in Xanten, Germany, to a noble and wealthy
family. Norbert lived a life of pleasure until one day he lost
consciousness after being thrown from his horse during a thunderstorm.
He awoke an hour later, and said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
“Turn from evil and do good: seek after peace and pursue it,” came the
heavenly reply.
Boniface
was born Winfrid around the year 680 to a respected and noble English
family, and it was to his father’s great displeasure that, at the young
age of five, his son devoted himself to the monastic life.
On
October 15, 1563 Francis Caracciolo was born into a noble Italian
family. When he was twenty-two, he developed a skin disease similar to
leprosy. The disease was incurable, but Francis vowed that if he was
healed, he would dedicate his life to God and the service of others. He
quickly recovered after his vow and the healing was reported to be
miraculous.
When
Mwanga began to see the Catholics as a threat to his rule, he sentenced
them to death. He ordered his pages into a great room and ordered the
Catholics to separate themselves from the rest. Then he asked if they
intended to remain true to their faith, even when faced with
persecution. “Until death!” they responded.
If
an impenitent humanity has every reason to fear every catastrophe, a
repentant humanity has every reason to expect every mercy. Indeed, for
God’s mercy to be poured on the contrite sinner, his repentance need not
have run its full course. Even while still in the depths of the pit, if
the sinner but sincerely and earnestly turn to God with a budding
repentance in his heart, he will immediately find help, for God never
disregards him.
God
is charity, so the simple mention of the Most Holy Name of Jesus evokes
love. It is the infinite, limitless love that drove the Second Person
of the Most Holy Trinity to become man. It is the love expressed in the
utter humiliation of a God Who comes to us as a poor infant, born in a
cave. It is the love shown in those thirty years of hidden life spent in
the humility of the strictest poverty, in the three grueling years of
evangelization, when the Son of Man traveled highways and country roads,
climbed mountains, crossed valleys, rivers and lakes, visited cities
and villages, walked through deserts and hamlets, spoke to rich and
poor, dispensing love and, for the most part, reaping ingratitude. It is
the love manifested in that supreme moment of the Last Supper when,
after generously washing the feet of His apostles, He instituted the
Holy Eucharist. It is the love of that last kiss taken from Judas, of
that poignant look at Peter, of those insults received and born
patiently and meekly, of those sufferings endured until the last drop of
blood was shed. It is the love in that last pardon of Dismas, which
enabled the dying thief to steal heaven. Finally, it is the love
manifested in the supreme gift of a heavenly mother for a wretched
humanity! Each of these episodes has been painstakingly studied by the
learned, wondrously reproduced by artists, devoutly contemplated by
saints, and, above all, incomparably celebrated in the Divine Liturgy.
Many
and beautiful are the invocations used by Holy Mother Church in
reference to Our Blessed Lady. Yet, every single one of these clearly
underscores her relationship to God’s love. Each celebrates either a
gift of God to her, to which she was perfectly faithful, or some special
power or influence she has with her Divine Son.
Although
not much is known about these two early martyrs, we do know that
Marcellinus was a priest in Rome and Peter was an exorcist who worked in
close association with him. They were both renowned for their zeal and
piety and attracted many followers to Christ.
Íñigo
was born in the eleventh century and was reportedly a native of Bilbao
in northern Spain. Early in life he was drawn to a life of solitude and
left to become a hermit. Later, he traveled to Aragon where he received
the religious habit of a monk at San Juan de Peña, eventually being
elected Prior. His term completed, Íñigo was again drawn to the hermit’s
“desert” and he resumed his hermetical life in the mountains of Aragon.
However, in 1029, King Sancho the Great sought out and was able to
convince Íñigo to become the Abbot of a group of monks in a monastery at
Oña. The monastery, founded by Sancho's father-in-law, was in need of
reform, and he wanted Íñigo to lead the process.
The
feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin St. Elizabeth
was established throughout the Church in the thirteenth or fourteenth
century.
Joan
of Arc’s story is nothing but extraordinary. Born in Domremy,
Champagne, in 1412, she was a peasant girl who received from on high the
mission of leading France militarily against the invading English.
Accompanied
by respectful soldiers, and dressed in a man’s clothing for her
personal protection, Joan traveled to the court of Charles VII who,
wishing to test the visionary maiden, hid himself among his courtiers.
But Joan promptly picked him out, and set at rest for him an intimate
doubt he had secretly prayed about as to his legitimacy as true son of
the king of France, Charles VI.
William
Arnaud, a Dominican, and companions were sent to Toulouse in the South
of France by Pope Gregory IX to combat the Albigensian heresy then
entrenched throughout the region.
Germanus,
one of the glories of the Church in France, was born near Autun, about
496. From his early youth he was exceedingly pious, never missing
midnight vespers at a church a mile from his home, regardless of the
weather.
This
brief encounter in the Roman Forum between the monk Gregory – later
Pope St. Gregory the Great – and the English youths planted in him such a
desire to evangelize England that having secured the blessing of Pope
Pelagius, he immediately set forth with several monk companions. This
ardent missionary desire, however, was not to be fulfilled by himself
but by another.
Philip Neri, known as “The Apostle of Rome,” was Florentine by birth, one of four children born to a notary.
Philip
Neri was ordained on May 23, 1551 and became known for the gift of
reading the thoughts of his penitents. As the number of conversions
increased, he began to give regular conferences.
At
midnight he was seized by a severe hemorrhage. His disciples gathered
around him, and as Baronius besought him for a parting word, unable to
speak, the ardent apostle raised his hand and imparted a last blessing
to his congregation before entering his reward. He was eighty years old.
St. Philip’s body is interred in the Chiesa Nuova, which his sons in
the Congregation of the Oratory serve to this day.
Pope
Gregory VII was born Hildebrand in Tuscany, Italy. Little else is known
of his early life. Hailed, historically, as one of the greatest of the
Church's pontiffs and one of the most remarkable men of all time, his
name, Hildebrand, meant “bright flame”. Those who hated him, which were
many, interpreted the name as “brand of Hell”.
e
confronted Emperor Henry IV head- on about his practice of choosing men
for ecclesiastical positions. On meeting with dogged resistance, the
pontiff finally had recourse to excommunication which drastically
curtailed the proud monarch’s power, ultimately bringing Henry on foot
to the Pope at the Castle of Canossa. Because of Henry’s rebellious
obstinacy, Pope Gregory saw fit to leave him out in the cold for three
days before receiving and reinstating the royal penitent.
The
defense of Malta understandably raised Christian spirits, but it was
only a defensive action. The powerful Ottoman fleet, still intact,
continued to raid Christian lands. The year after that strategic
triumph, Ali Pasha, who commanded the naval forces in Malta, captured
Chios, the last Genoese position in the Eastern Mediterranean and
through treachery murdered the ruling Giustiniani family. Then for three
days the Mohammedans roved over the island, massacred all the
inhabitants and destroyed everything Catholic. Two boys in the
Giustiniani family, aged ten and twelve, were martyred. The younger boy,
almost cut to pieces, was told to hold up one finger if he wished to
apostatize and live. He clenched his fists so tight that they could not
be opened even after death.
From
the moment of his elevation, Saint Pius V, through his experience and
extraordinary vision, not only recognized the grave peril to Christendom
but also saw the solution; the Ottoman power could be broken solely by
means of a crusade; and crusades are won not only on the battlefield but
also in the spiritual life, that is, on the supernatural level. Spain
and Venice, as we shall see, viewed the Turks as a threat to their
material welfare—as indeed they were—but the holy Pope also saw them as a
threat to the order that God Himself placed in the world and for that
reason employed the weapons of spiritual warfare.
In
the middle of September, the largest Christian fleet ever assembled
sailed out from Messina in Sicily to seek out and destroy the Muslim
fleet commanded by the Sultan’s brother-in-law, Ali Pasha. Saint Pius V
granted all members of the expedition the indulgences of crusaders. Not
one of the 81,000 soldiers and sailors had failed to confess and receive
Holy Communion.
Barbarigo’s
counterpart, Mohammed Sirocco, made a quick dash between the Venetian
commander’s left wing and the shore line, hoping to swing around and
trap Don Juan’s squadron from behind. Barbarigo quickly slid over and
intercepted the Turks, but several galleys had slipped by and attacked
him from the rear. When his squadron closed in to help, Barbarigo,
standing in the midst of fierce struggle, lifted the visor of his helmet
to coordinate their attack. An arrow pierced his eye; mortally wounded,
he was carried below. However, his quick, self-sacrificing action had
prevented Sirocco’s flanking movement. The Christian left then trapped
the Muslim wing of fifty-six galleys against the shore and methodically
destroyed it.